A dental prosthesis, e.g. a crown or a bridge, may be supported by an implant, hereinafter referred to as a tooth implant. Generally, such an implant is a rotationally symmetric implant and, in this respect, such an implant usually is a screw implant. Before the rotationally symmetric implant is placed into the patient's jaw, the patient's jaw is prepared by drilling a drill hole for the implant.
The spatial position of the implant drill hole in the patient's jaw and of the crown to be eventually fastened on the implant, are planned at a computer and with the help of a three-dimensional digital jaw model captured using imaging techniques, which model represents the patient's jaw and the existing teeth of the patient. After the implant drill hole in the jaw has been planned and defined spatially, the implant drill hole must be drilled in the patient's jaw in exactly the manner as planned.
For this purpose a drilling jig is used which is set on the patient's jaw or, as far as existing, on the patient's teeth in a defined spatial orientation and which has a drill channel for guiding a drill, which channel may also be referred to as a guiding channel. For the drilling jig to be placed in a defined spatial orientation with respect to the patient's jaw, it has to present a corresponding negative of the occlusal surfaces of the teeth or of the patient's jaw. The drilling jig's drill channel serves as an axial guide for the drill with which the drill hole is drilled into the patient's jaw, and may also serve as a depth stop, if so desired.
DE 199 52 962 A describes how the tooth implant and the corresponding implant bore are planned digitally from all of the digital three-dimensional information about the patient's jaw, the patient's teeth etc. A complex drilling jig is eventually produced therefrom, having the negative of the occlusal surfaces of the still existing teeth of the patient and a drilling jig drill channel. EP 1 043 960 describes producing a complete drilling jig from a single piece.
Producing such drilling jigs is technically challenging, in particular because of the complex shape of the negative of the occlusal surfaces of the neighboring teeth of the planned implant, so that an expensive CAD apparatus is required for this purpose and rather long manufacturing times occur in the production of a drilling jig.
An adjustable drilling device is described in DE 195 10 294 A with which a drill channel is drilled into a surgical jig so that eventually a drilling jig is obtained for drilling the drill hole necessary for the planned implant into the patient's jaw.
An aspect of the present invention is to provide a method for the production of a drilling jig and a drilling jig, which require little effort in the production of the finished drilling jig.
In an embodiment, the present invention provides a method for producing a drilling jig to drill a drill hole in a jaw of a patient to insert a tooth implant therein which includes providing a prosthesis with an individualized part and a standardized plate part. The prosthesis is adapted to and placed on the at least one of the jaw and teeth of the patient. A three-dimensional digital jaw model is created. The tooth implant is designed and digitally constructed in the three-dimensional digital jaw model. A drilling model is formed with a drilling model drill channel using the three-dimensional digital jaw model showing the planned tooth implant. The drilling model is mounted on the prosthesis. A prosthesis drill channel is drilled into the prosthesis in alignment with the drilling model drill channel to form the drilling jig for drilling the drill hole in the jaw of the patient for the tooth implant.